Note: AG is actually all women (6), overall is men and women (11)

I had hoped that this swim would be better than last year's, but it most definitely wasn't. Even though I had practiced tens of thousands of more yards than the previous year, it didn't make any difference in my comfort level.

They had aquabike and relays in the third (last) wave with the older men, and someone mentioned while we were waiting that they hated that. Unfortunately it got into my head. I was lined up towards the front, and I started wondering if I was going to get swum over, hit, would my goggles fog up, etc.. Then the horn went off and although there was no contact, I was a head case. My heart rate was way too high (in part from the wade into the water), and I literally stopped at one point, looked back onto the shore, and thought about swimming back and DNF'ing. By that point I couldn't touch the ground anyway, so I decided I might as well keep going but I decided I was never going to do a tri/aquabike again - I hate swimming. I was a total nutjob, and it was very disappointing given that I was hoping to attack the swim.

After I rounded the first buoy I started to settle into a rhythm (just like last year!) and I ended up finishing strong. My sighting went particularly well, especially given that it was my first open-water swim of the year, and I even found some feet to draft off for a while.

I ended up getting out of the water at the same time as Susanne (who started 3 minutes ahead in the 2nd wave), and I told her, "See, I told you I wouldn't pass you on the swim!". She laughed and said if it had been another 25 yards I would have. :)

I'd give this swim a "bad" to the first buoy and then a good after that. Guess that will make it "average".

I'm going to have to suck it up and do some open water swims with HEAT at Westhill next year. This is not the race to have my first open-water swim of the year, given that it's in the Sound. I wasn't comfortable in my wetsuit, and that was just due to lack of practice in it.

Next year I'm also going to run down the shore and then head straight for the buoy like a lot of other racers did. I don't know if it really made much of a difference in length, but it seemed like a more streamlined way to do it.

My mantra last year was "Stay inside your head." Next year it will be "Just get to the first buoy."

1st division; 3rd overall

This was an excellent T1 for me. I actually didn't think it was so quick because I was being so methodical about everything.

Nothing

Given that I have only been in the big chain ring for one week this year, I didn't have a whole lot of expectations for the bike. I was hoping to average faster than last year, but Jeff didn't think it would happen due to my lack of miles and big ring experience.

I passed Michelle right away (she was also in the aquabike) but started the first lap a bit too hard. I was able to settle down into a nice rhythm during the second lap. Heart rate was in the mid-160's at that point which felt good. I made a point not to lug my cadence and downshifted a few times when I needed to, but I stayed in the big chain ring the whole way. We had a headwind on the "return" part of the loop which grew increasingly stronger with each lap, but everyone had to deal with it.

I was passed by a few women a couple of times, but I had no way of knowing if they were aquabikers or not. At one point a female on a tri bike with an aero helmet passed me, and I thought "Oh hell no, this will not stand" and I passed her back and didn't see her again. That made me feel pretty good, actually. :) I reeled in a few guys, and basically tried to pick off whoever I could. My knee barked a tiny bit once or twice, but then it either faded or the extra adrenaline kicked in and I stopped feeling it.

I had a gu when I first started out, then another one 45 minutes later. Went through one whole water bottle and part of a second. Tried to make a point of standing every 10 minutes or so, but the upper hamstrings were awfully tight when I got off the bike. Perhaps standing more frequently would have helped, but it was probably more due to the fact that I've only been in the big chain ring for a week.

Honestly, there was nothing I could control that I would do differently. This was a great bike split for me under the circumstances. Faster than last year with less training. I stayed in my aerobars or drops most of the time, and really dug deep. I'm very happy with this bike split.

Signed up for a massage. One of the nice things about aquabike is you don't have to wait! :)


Knee surgery in January.

I'll say this was a good race overall, and if it wasn't for my mini-meltdown in the first part of the swim I would have said it was a great race.


This was the first year the organizers had an aquabike division, and they did a FABULOUS job with it. So many times you hear about how aquabike is the redheaded stepchild, but they didn't make us feel second class at all. When we re-entered transition after the bike they took our chip, and then directed us to the finish line where the announcer said my name just like the athletes doing the full tri. They also had prizes for first, second, and third overall female and male.

Bottom line, they did an outstanding job and despite the mosquitoes and my mental struggles at the beginning of the swim, I will definitely be back next year.